Because it's not natural to hate bodies, not natural to clothe unless you're cold or something.

I believe I have read there is actually more than just one park in Germany where nudity is allowed.

I live near Portland, Oregon (USA), and there if people see soemone naked, it is really no big deal. I've done several naked bike rides through the city there.

I do a lot of reading and find it interesting how in historical novels as Europeans reach the Americas they make it a priority to teach natives to be ashamed of their bodies. Nakedness was nto really a big deal to most native cultures.

The truth is that we are taught to feel ashamed. It doesn't come naturally (even if the bible says that it does). It is a bit of a farce for everyone to cover up, even though everyone already knows what is under the clothes..

@snytiger6 I once met an Australian Aboriginal who was a bit of a celebrity, i had a long talk with him. He asked me: "What do you think was the worst thing [for us] that Europeans brought?" I guessed guns, maybe the bible, ..?... but no, he said "Clothes." And seeing the poor natives looking extremely awkward packed away in victorian garb, you can see why. Shoes included. He said they stopped feeling the Earth.

@ZebZaman I have read a couple of books by Michael Talbot about the founding of Australia (there are three altogether, but I haven't red the third yet), and when they talked about snow in winter (our summer), I wondered how Aborigines managed to keep warm, but they must have done just fine.

the same in hamburg, my former hometown. nudity in the city's summer parks

You have a point. Not all the problems are from swingers, but would be better classified as "troublesome pervs" as you put it. I admit, I was just beign lazy about fully explaining, as it takes a lot longer, and I didn't want to introduce too much information at one time, because in the U.S., people are usually ignorant of fine distinctions. They have years of misinformation. I took the easy road and separated everyone into just two groups, the nudsits and naturists who enjoy platonic nude recreation, and the rest who seek out nudist places because they have some sort of sexual agenda, whether they are swingers, pedophiles, voyeurs, exhibitionists or some sort of sexual predator. However, pedophiles and sexual predators generally don't usually go to nudist places, as they almost always seek places of seclusion metnioning them upfront would immediately get up everyone's guard and spark fer, and the conversations would not be about thier attitudes towards nudity, but about things that are no more of a concern in nudist places than in clothed places. That is my excuse/justification for taking the "easy way out" in my categorizations.

I really wish the U.S. was much better educated and did not have so much misinformation. I wanted to see what attitudes about nudity were, and I seem to accomplished that. I am surprised that I am still getting responses almost everyday.

Here in the UK, naturism does seem to attract paedophiles. I've been a member of a club that had one member kicked out after it was revealed that he was on the sex offender's register for something to do with photos of his young granddaughter. What was most alarming was that a number of other club members knew about this and kept quiet. The same club had one member arrested after it transpired that he'd been repeatedly raping both of his step-children. He's probably still in prison (I hope so.)

There have been a few high profile exclusions from British Naturism, including their Yorkshire area representative a few years back. He was caught viewing child pornography in work (I think he was more of a sexual thrill seeking risk taker and taboo breaker than anything) and a raid on his house revealed an extensive collection of over 100,000 images, some of which fell into the worst classification of child sexual abuse.

The obvious appeal of naturism/nudism to someone with a sexual interest in children is a massive elephant in the room. Without training to be a Physical Education teacher (and going through all kinds of vetting) where else are you likely to get an opportunity to observe under 18's without clothes? I find it frustrating that naturism chooses to focus on a 'threat' supposedly posed to grown adults by swingers, while largely ignoring a very real threat to children.

Perhaps things are different in the US. But given that (admittedly a good few years ago) I stumbled across a 'secret' group on the Internet, detailing US nudist resorts for incestuous families, I doubt it's really that much different. The fact that many believe otherwise is down to the facade that naturism/nudism manages to maintain.

Though you're far from alone in 'othering' swingers. I used to do it myself. It's easy to dump everyone with any kind of sexual agenda into the same pile of pervs, and naturism/nudism routinely uses this tack to distance 'genuine' naturists from any impropriety. The reality is that most swingers are very respectful, and discreet to the point of paranoia just as so many naturists are. They wouldn't dare to do a lot of stuff that the pervs get up to. They would be too concerned about being exposed as practitioners of their lifestyle.

Most nudists/naturists think the ideal job is one where you can work naked. Many telecommute from home (work from home over the internet) in order to accomplish that.

Yes, some boundaries of etiquette and for sanitation would need to be established. At nudist clubs or in nudist homes i have visited, people generally carry towels with them to sit on as a par of nudist cultural etiquette. As things opened up to public nudity, new social norms would need to be established to avoid such issues such as sanitation.

In Oregon, even though there are some local ordinances against nudity, a State Supreme court ruling said that nudity was a right, and the local ordinances are not really enforceable.

However, as to your concern, the right to be nude only applies to the commons, such as public sidewalks, streets, parks, etc... You cant' legally be nude on privat property or at a place of business which does not allow it, as that would fiolate the law under "creatign a public nuisance", and even if a business if open to the public, they are still privately owned.

Anyway, despite nude friendly laws in Oregon, few person actually take advantage. This is mostly because naturists/nudists try to not deliberately offend others, unless as a part of a protest (such as the World Naked Bike Ride(s)).

I used tojus twer modest clothing, but I don't like having tan lines Tan lines just dont' llook natural to me, and if nude, they draw attention to the non-tanned areas as if highlighting them.

I think we as a society need to move away from idealizing models with eatign disorders who have had all their imperfections Photoshoped out of the photos we see, andjust become more comfortable with how average people really look and not be disgusted by even the slightest imperfections.

I find it interesting that nudity laws were enacted over concerns about sex and sexual attraction, but almost all the negative comments here are in regards to not wanting to see naked fat people.

I find the idea of gettign sexually excited by table legs to be pretty funny. Studies have shown that persons who have no outlets for sexual desire pretty develop neurotic and irrational behaviors.

I have often thought that a lot of religious persons are adamantly against sex just to get the that extra excitement and thrill out of doing the forbidden.

In ancient Greece or Rome, I doubt anyone ever got turned on sexually by a table leg.

Yes, the two main purposes of clothing is warmth and protection. Clothes do serve a purpose, but when those purposes aren't really relevant, then clothes are not really needed.

Yeah, I do htink that places of business shoudl be allowed to mandate dress codes for people who enter their business.

Are you doing the ride this year? I have done the Portland WNBR every year since 2008. Wouldn't miss it for the world. It's like being a kid again. Would love to have someone to share the ride with. Last year people went into the fountain in the riverside park down town at the end of the ride. It's like being a little kid again. Look for a video of it on youtube

It is sad tht we live in a society where less than 10% of ht eopulation can fit into wha tis generally seen as "attractive", and we also tend to feel shamed if we dont' meet the unrealistic expectations advertisers have promoted as the ideal.

You will find in naturalist/nudist literature that there is a lot said about overcoming "body shame" and "body shaming". This is because a part of nudist/naturist philosophy is to learn to accept ourselves for who we are and also to accept others for who they are, rather than putting so much focus on where we all fall short of societal expectations..

Personally, I think it is a better way to live, to be comfortable in your own skin, instead of having constant worry and shame about how you don't live up to an unrealistic ideal promoted by advertisers, who use models with eating disorders and Photoshop all the imperfections out their ads

Average people usually have a least a few extra pounds on them. That is what normal people actually look like. Not the eating disordered Photo shopped models. The sooner people who are just average realize that they are "normal", the sooner average peopel will feel good about themselves.

Humans are unique in that when we face each other we can see our reproductive organs. Among animals showing each other reproductive organs is used for dominance displays and reproduction.

Nudity taboo is nearly universal as a result. You do not want to be triggering old animal instincts in other people casually.

The public transit scenario seems to come up a lot.

Generally, nudists/naturist tend to try to behave in such a way as not to offend others. That is just a part of the culture and etiquette.

As an example, most people who ride in the World naked Bike Ride in Portland Oregon, will ride naked to the starting point of he ride (Starts at a different place each year). Those who take public transit to get to the starting point of the ride, won't get naked until they get off of the last public transit vehicle. Legally, a person who is on the way to a protest in Oregon, can be naked all the way there, including on public transit, but people simply do nto choose to do so out of courtesy for others. (The World Naked Bike Ride(s) are protest(s) against the world's continuing dependence on fossil fuels.)

I agree in that society's viewsof nudity needs to be changed to be more positive.

Ironically, your examples of Italy and Greece have had not probloems with things gettign out of hand, as you suggest they night if nudity were no big deal here.

Neither has there been problems in France or Germany, where nudity is generally mroe accepted, or any other country where nudity is less of a big deal than it is here.

Wait, what are you talking about? Naked women can't freely just hang out and walk down the street in public in any of those countries. Women everywhere are freaking out about being just catcalled. Explain how everyone getting naked is the answer there.